Temporary car opening closure



Dec. 1, 1959 B. H. FORD 2,915,116

TEMPORARY CAR OPENING CLOSURE Filed Feb. 19, 1957 I I By ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent TEMPORARY CAR OPENING CLOSURE Barton H. Ford, Omaha, Nebr., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Ford Grain Door Company, Omaha, Nebr., a corporation of Nebraska Application February 19, 1957, Serial No. 641,199

4 Claims. c1. 160-91) This invention relates to a temporary car opening closure, and is particularly useful in the sealing of railway car door openings with which storm doors or outside doors are employed. I

In the usual railway boxcar, there is provided on the outer side of the car and usually supported upon metal tracks, storm doors or outer doors which are eifectlve in closing the car opening. Such doors are effective in providing a strong outer closure for the car, but are relatively inefiective for maintaining granular cargo or and this action causes further rubbing contact between the temporary door. and the storm doors. Further, in the opening and closing of thestorm doors, there is some abrasion of the temporary door. Because of these difficulties and conditions, there has been a need for many years for a structure which would protect the door from injury while at the same time permitting a relatively light and inexpensive temporary door material to be employed while also providinga structure in which movement of'the outer or storm doors can be readily accomplished without catching upon or injuring the temporary door or disengaging its fastenings.

An object of the present invention is to provide a door opening closure which overcomes the above described difficulties and produces the new results described. Another object is to provide, in combination with a railway car having storm doors, a temporary door structure equipped with spaced slides or skid tracks which facilitate movement of the storm doors while at the same time protecting the temporary door. A still further object is to provide, in combination with a storm doorequipped car, a temporary closure of flexible, relatively inexpensive material equipped with metal skid tracks which are free of obstructions and which permit the storm doors to move freely inwardly and outwardly while at the same time protecting the temporary door from abrasion and injury. A still further object is to provide an improved temporary door structure having a minimum of parts which may be assembled to the door frame without battens or laths while at the same time effectively supporting the door and utilizing the storm doors as a support for the temporary door, such support being accomplished without danger of injuring the temporary door. Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds.

2,915,116 Patented Dec. 1,. 1.959

2 The invention is shown, in illustrative embodiments, by the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a broken perspective view of a portion of a railway car equipped with storm doors and a temporary vdoor embodying my invention; Fig. 2, an enlarged broken vertical sectional View, the section being taken as indicated at line Z2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a transverse sectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, an enlarged sectional detail view; Fig. 5, a broken sectional view showing the reinforcing straps secured to the corrugated board employed; and Fig. 6, a view similar to Fig. '5 but showing a modified form of the invention.

In the illustration given, A designates a railway car, B storm doors with whichthe car is equipped, and C a temporary door structure employed in combination with the storm doors. 1 1

The railway car A is provided with ,the usual floor 16, side walls 11, doorway frame 12, and with the other structures that are found in a boxcar. To the outside of the car A are secured storm doors B. Such doors are mounted upon the usual tracks for sliding movement laterally across the doorway to close the door. Since such structures are well known in the art, a further detailed description herein is believed unnecessary.

The temporary door C may be of any suitable construction. In the illustration given, a corrugated board 13 is provided having an inner liner 14, a corrugated core 15, and an outer liner 16. The corrugated board 13 is provided at its outer side with spaced straps 17 of metal or other suitable material. The straps, are provided at spaced distances with inwardly-turned metal fingers 18 preferably struck from the strap 17 and projected through the door 13 so asto anchor each strap to the door, as illustrated best in Fig. 4. The strap 17 terminates over the door frame 12 and may be secured thereto by a headed nail 19. I prefer to turn the end of the board 13 over upon itself to form a reinforcing post 20, as illustrated best in Fig. 4.

With the foregoing structure, it will be noted that the spaced straps 17 provide along their outer side a smooth uninterrupted surface presenting no obstruction to the action of the storm doors'B. Instead, the smooth outer surfaces of the steel straps 17 provide a skid track or slideway along which thestorm doors B may move without injuring the corrugated board 13.

The door board 13 may be formed of laminated paper or of plastic or of any other suitable material. I have found that the corrugated board is particularly useful because of its rigidity and because it will stand in place so that a workman can readily attach the board to the door. Further, the board can be readily scored along its edges to form the overlapping post structure 20, as above described. By employing metal straps 17 in conjunction with such a board structure, I find that heavy granular material can be efiectively carried within the car while at the same time the storm doors B may be utilized in reinforcing the door or manipulated along the temporary door C without binding. Since the fastening elements 18 extend through the door and their barbs lie on the inner side of the door, there is no tendency for the storm door to cause the straps to become disengaged from the structure 13 as the storm doors are moved or as the inner temporary door C moves under the action of the flowing or shiftable granular cargo.

In the modification set out in Fig. 6, the board 13a is provided on its outer side with spaced straps 17a, and in this structure the strap 17a is held in place by a thin paper sheet 21. The paper sheet is secured to the outer liner 16a of the board 13a so as to provide a pocket in which the strap 17a is freely slidable but nevertheless held in the proper spaced relation upon the board C. The

paper liner 21 is eifective in maintaining the straps 17a in spaced relation along the outer side of the board 13a, so that the board can be readily installed as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. After installation, it isnot important that the paper 21 remain intact, .because the straps 17a are then held in proper spaced relation bythe nails 19. In actual operation, the paper strip 21 is usually worn away by engagement with the storm doors B and, in fact, the paper portion 21 actually facilitates the sliding or gliding movement of the doors B with respect to the temporary door C.

While, in the illustration given, I have shown two methods of securing the straps 17 and 17a in free and unobstructed manner upon the temporary door so that any contact between the door C and the storm doors B does not bring about a tearing or unfastening operation, it will be understood that other means for securing the straps so that they do not present projections or obstructions on their outer surface, may be employed.

The door C may be formed of a single vertical panel, as illustrated best in Fig. 1, or it may be formed of a plurality of panels. I prefer also to have the lowermost panel provided with an inwardly-extending flap 22 which is anchored to the floor by the load of grain or granular material thereon.

While, in the foregoing specification, I have set out specific structures in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a temporary door closure for a freight car equipped with a doorway and storm doors for closing said doorway, an elongated corrugated paperboard panel equipped with longitudinally-extending, spaced-apart, fiat metal straps having smooth exterior surfaces, said straps being individually secured to one side of said panel with a plurality of said straps being secured in positions intermediate the longitudinal edges of said panel, said strapequipped panel, when secured to the sides of the doorway along tis transverse edges, being sufficiently flexible to yield under a weight load to bring said straps into sliding engagement with the storm doors of a freight car, each of said straps being equipped with a plurality of inwardlyturned barbs projecting through said panel for anchoring said straps to said panel, said straps thereby being effective to confine said panel against engagement with said storm doors between adjacent straps, and afford projec- 4 V tion-free sliding engagement of said straps with said storm doors.

2. In combination with a railway car having a door opening, a frame about said opening, and storm doors slidably mounted on the exterior of said car for movement into a position closing said opening, a temporary door having vertical edge portions secured to the inner side of said frame and equipped with horizontally-extending, flat metal straps along the outer side thereof for engagement with said storm doors, said straps being vertically spaced apart, means individually securing 'said straps to said door with a plurality of said straps being secured to said doorway intermediate the top and bottom horizontal edges thereof,-and means for securing the edges of said door and said straps to said door frame, said door being formed of flexible material and adapted to yield under a weight load to engage said storm doors, said strap securing means extending only inwardly of said straps whereby said straps present a smooth, projectionfree outer surface for engaging said doors.

3. The structure of claim 2, in which each of said straps is equipped with a plurality of inwardly-directed fingers passing through the door for anchoring said straps upon said door.

4. In a temporary door closure for a freight car equipped with a doorway and storm doors for closing said doorway, an elongated corrugated paper panel equipped with longitudinally-extending, spaced-apart, flat metal straps having smooth exterior surfaces, means individually securing said straps to said panel with a plurality of said straps being secured in positions intermediate the longitudinal edges of said panel, said means extending only inwardly of said straps whereby no projections are provided on the outer surfaces of said straps, said strap-equipped panel, when secured to the sides of the doorway along its transverse edges, being sufficiently flexible to yield under a weight load to bring said straps into sliding engagement with the storm doors of said freight car.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l,972,539 Simpson Sept. 4, 1934 2,116,260 Corkran May 3, 1938 2,361,081 Brandon Oct. 24, 1944 2,462,309 Dyke Feb. 22, 1949 2,599,443 Ford et al. June 3, 1952 2,659,432 Lau Nov. 17, 1953 2,738,006 Suess Mar. 13, 1956 2,797,749 Ford et al. July 2, 1957 

